New Delhi, March 03, 2019: Retired Supreme Court judge, Jasti Chelameshwar refused to term hisparticipating in an unprecedented press conference on the way cases were being assigned to judges as a ‘revolt’. In parliament, members disagree with each other every day. Is that called a revolt?” said the former SC judge while speaking at the India Today Conclave on Saturday.
“ I don’t see a confrontation between the judiciary and government,” but agreed that “ the threat of coopting always exists,” in the judiciary before finally adding that “ there are people who are pliable.”
Former CAG and BCCI chief Vinod Rai said that debate between people is a part of a robust democracy. “ the only thing is that the debate should be confined to issues at hand and not degenerate into attacks,” he added. Rai even termed the tension between institutions as ‘healthy’ and said that it contributes to dynamism in democracy.
Principal economic advisor to the finance ministry, Sanjeev Sanyal said that it was unfair to say that the autonomy of the RBI was under attack under the present government. “ Unregulated lending was a problem. The government reigned this in,” he said, adding that, “ the RBI has more autonomy under this government than any other government.” Sanyal said that the central bank in any country was answerable to the government and India was no different. He also said that the present government has brought in people with diverse ideologies in the RBI board. “ the board is supposed to look into the actions of the RBI. In the past, the board was looking into things like the canteen menu and not serious issues,” he said, adding that this has now changed.
Vinod Rai supported the idea of having a collegium to appoint the Director of the CBI while Sanjeev Sanyal said that the merely having a politician in a process should not be reason to question it. “ if people have elected their representatives, whats wrong with having them in a selection process,” said Sanyal.
Justice (rtd) Chelameshwar said that no political party was keen to have a CBI that was truly independent. He said that no party has supported the idea of having a statutory basis for the CBI.
The former judge said that the process of impeachment was the only option available for regulating judges which wasn’t correct. He stressed on the need for other measures. Sanjeev Sanyal said that the judiciary also need to be held accountable, especially for aspects like backlog of cases.
On being asked if bureaucrats and army officers should indeed come out in the open and defend the government of the day through write ups, former CAG a retired IAS officer himself said that the bureaucrat is not really faceless. “ The DM cant be called faceless because as his entire dealing is with the public,” he said. He upheld the idea of officers writing oped pieces as far as they mention that the views are their personal.
Both Sanyal and Justice (rtd) Chelameshwar, owing to the prevailing situation at the Indo Pak border said that it was avoidable bringing in the armed forces in the discussion today.
On the subject of should the SC be looking into issues pertaining to cricket, Vinod Rai, the BCCI chief who has been brought into the post by the SC said, “ I had been brought in as a nightwatchman but have stayed on for 25 months.” He added that he wanted to hold elections but they are not being held due to pending legal issues. “ you must also realize why the SC had to step in. there had been not only a perceived but demonstrable decline in the process of administering cricket,” he said.
Corporate Comm India(CCI NewsWire)
